Offensive coordinator John Morton, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp spoke to the media Thursday ahead of Detroit's matchup Sunday at Northwest Stadium against the Washington Commanders. Here are my 10 biggest takeaways from those media sessions:

1. Morton acknowledged the protection issues against the Vikings last week and said they've been addressed with the players this week. It's been more physical — a player getting beat here and another playing getting beat there — than mental, per Morton, and they'll continue to work on limiting those moving forward. It didn't seem like they were at a point where personnel changes needed to be made upfront.

2. One of the areas Sheppard was most disappointed in last week was the sudden change aspect of the defense following the David Montgomery fumble and Jake Bates' blocked kick. Sheppard's unit has been good in those situations most of the season, but Minnesota scored 14 points in those two situations, which was the difference in the game.

3. Speaking of Bates' blocked field goal, Fipp said it was a simple case of Bates mishitting the ball and delivering too low of a kick. Bates' foot hit the ground first and skipped too high off the ground and hit the ball high. Fipp put it mostly on the kick and not the protection.

4. Expect Morton to continue to find ways to get the ball in tight end Sam LaPorta’s hands. Morton thinks LaPorta is one of the most skilled runners after the catch at the tight end position and thinks of him as a receiver playing the tight end position in that regard.

5. Sheppard has seen growth from second-year cornerback Terrion Arnold, cleaning up some of his penalty issues at the top of routes but has made it a point of emphasis to Arnold this week that he must be a better tackler against the run. Sheppard wants a tough, physical defense. If cornerbacks aren't willing or able to come up and support the run consistently, Sheppard said a defense can't be defined as tough or physical. He had that conversation with Arnold this week.

6. Sione Vaki returned to the lineup last week but didn't have a kickoff return because the Vikings kicked away from him, opting to have Jacob Saylors return kicks. How can the Lions try to get Vaki more returns? It's tough, according to Fipp, unless they use just him back. Fipp thinks that's difficult if you play a good kicker who can adjust his kicks and manipulate the ball.

"Ultimately, the team that's kicking the ball really controls the play," Fipp said.

7. Head coach Dan Campbell said he's hoping to get rookie wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa the ball a little bit more this week and Morton echoed that sentiment on Thursday. He's happy with TeSlaa's development but wants to see what he can do with the ball in his hands a little more.

8. Sheppard isn't expecting Washington's offense to change much with Marcus Mariota at quarterback in place of the injured Jayden Daniels. In fact, Sheppard said the run game is a little more physical with Mariota in there because he's a bigger, more physical presence as a runner who doesn't slide much.

9. Don't be surprised if we start to hear Lions assistant special teams coach Jett Modkins start to get some interviews for a coordinator position. Fipp raved about what Modkins brings to those units and how he's developed as a coach in his years on Campbell's staff.

10. One area where Detroit's defense has to be particularly sharp this week against Washington is with their tackling, Sheppard said. One thing that kept popping up on Washington's offensive tape was their ability to rack up YAC (yards after catch). Sheppard said they must tackle better overall than they did last week vs. Minnesota.